ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Ministry of Finance
Finance Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman attends the Development Committee Meeting of the World Bank-IMF
Finance Minister shared measures taken to combat COVID-19 including social support measures for poor and vulnerable, and relief measures for firms in statutory and regulatory compliance matters
The Union Finance Minister, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, participated in the 101st Meeting of the Development Committee Plenary through video conference here today. The items on the agenda included update on World Bank Group Response to the COVID-19 Emergency, and the Covid-19 Debt Initiative: International Call for Action in Support of IDA Countries.
In her intervention at this session, Smt Nirmala Sitharaman stated that given the size of our population, India could have become a major COVID hotspot. The Government has been taking no chances , launched massive efforts to assist the health system respond effectively to the outbreak. Important measures included social distancing, travel restrictions, work from and stay at home in public and private sectors, and direct health interventions centred on scaled up testing, screening and treatment, have helped contain impact of the pandemic.
The Finance Minister shared that the Government has announced support measures worth US $ 23 billion comprising free health insurance to health workers; cash transfers, free food and gas distribution; and social security measures for affected workers. To help firms, especially SME firms, cope with sudden loss of economic opportunity, the Government has provided relief in statutory and regulatory compliance matters related to income tax, GST, customs, financial services and corporate affairs. The Central Bank has also been accommodative. Regulators are taking steps to reduce market volatility. Government is working extensively with stakeholders for providing additional relief in the form of humanitarian aid and to provide economic stimulus in coming days.
Smt Sitharaman also mentioned that as responsible citizens of the global community, we are supplying critical medicines to the needy countries and will continue to do so if the situation demands. She commended the speedy response and efficiency of the World Bank Group in rolling out the Fast Track COVID-19 Response Facility.
Ministry of Science & Technology
Deciphering of physical characteristics of a rare class of supernovae hint towards advanced stage of evolution of special class of very hot & massive stars
A team of scientists have deciphered the physical characteristics of a rare class of supernovae called Type Ibn Supernovae .
Type Ibn supernovae are a rare class of stripped-envelope supernovae interacting with a helium-rich dense circumstellar medium . These SNe are unique and essential because they help to explore about the typical density, velocity, and composition of the nearby SN environment. They are more luminous than normal supernovae , which are huge stellar explosions releasing a humongous amount of energy. SN 2019wep is one of the very rare SNe for which a long-term monitoring campaign was launched to decipher the physical characteristics following detection of flash ionisation signatures. This is a unique study where the SN properties are probed along with environmental studies.
An international team of researchers from Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences , an autonomous institute under the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, Hiroshima University, Japan, and Las Cumbres Observatory, USA, deciphered the physical characteristics of SN 2019wep.
The researchers have identified rare signatures of flash ionisation in the very early spectra of SN 2019wep. The rare signatures hint towards a special class of very hot and massive stars in advanced stages of stellar evolution, having depleted hydrogen, called Wolf-Rayet progenitor star. The early signatures of flash ionisation, especially Helium, were previously traced in some SNe mostly due to the CSM recombination. The team led by Anjasha Gangopadhyay, a former research scholar at ARIES  and Kuntal Misra, scientist at ARIES, traced the unique Carbon and Nitrogen signatures in the optical waveband deciphering the physical characteristics.
The SN Ibns tracked in the research published in The Astrophysical Journal is a peculiar one, which shows a transitioning nature and residual H-alpha. In general, SN Ibn are expected to show He features only, however, this is a unique case where we can see some remaining Halpha in the SN spectrum. The researchers said that SNe Ibns are typically short-lived, and dedicated follow-up campaigns will help unravel the mysteries of the unique members of Type Ibn class and their ancestors.
Publication: Anjasha Gangopadhyay et al. 2022 ApJ 930 127
Publication Link: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/ac6187
For more details, please contact: Anjasha Gangopadhyay , Kuntal Misra .
Figure 1: Figure displays  a cartoon of SN explosion   the moment when the recombination of the ejecta occurs with nearby CSM  and the  appearance of flash ionized signatures of CIII and NIII in their outer spectra .
Figure 2:  The image shows the absolute magnitude light curves of SN 2019wep as compared with other SNe Ibn  and as compared with the fast transients   The plot shows the spectral comparison of SN 2019wep with other SNe Ib and a transitioning SN ASASSN-15ed .
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SNC/RR
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Prime Minister's Office
Prime Minister attends State Funeral of former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi attended the State Funeral of former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe at the Nippon Budokan, Tokyo. Representatives from over 100 countries, including more than 20 Heads of State / Government participated in the State Funeral.
Prime Minister honoured the memory of former PM Abe, who he considered a dear friend and a great champion of India-Japan partnership.
Following the State Funeral, Prime Minister had a private meeting with Mrs. Akie Abe, spouse of Late PM Abe, at the Akasaka Palace. Prime Minister Modi conveyed his heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Abe. He recalled his fond friendship and the significant contribution made by former PM Abe in taking India-Japan relationship to new heights. Prime Minister also had a brief interaction thereafter with Prime Minister Kishida to reiterate his condolences.
Ministry of Defence
Western Naval Command Inducts Electrical Vehicles as Part of Green Initiatives
Mumbai, 09th September 2021
Western Naval Command, Mumbai has inducted 19 new multipurpose environment friendly electrical vehicles  for use in residential areas. These vehicles are fitted with reliable, energy-efficient and low maintenance batteries.
Mrs. Kala Hari Kumar, President, Navy Wives Welfare Association , Western Region flagged off the vehicles on 08 Sept 21. The EVs will be utilised for transportation of naval personnel and goods within residential areas.
The initiative is in line with the National Clean Air Programme launched by Government of India in 2019 for reduction of concentration of particulate matter in the air by 20-30% by year 2024.
The induction of these vehicles is one among various other green initiatives of the Indian Navy. They will contribute significantly towards reduction of air and sound pollution and will help in conserving the ecosystem.
DL/PM
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Cabinet
Cabinet approves signing of the Protocol amending the Convention between India and Portugal for avoidance of Double Taxation
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for signing of a Protocol amending the Convention between India and Portugal for avoidance of double taxation. The Protocol will also ensure prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.
Once the Protocol enters into force, both India and Portugal would be able to exchange tax related information, which will help tax authorities of both countries to curb tax evasion.
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Ministry of Communications
Cabinet approves a project for saturation of 4G mobile services in uncovered villages at a total cost of Rs. 26,316 Cr
Digital inclusion and connectivity for all is an integral part of ‘antyodaya’ vision of the Government. Last year Government approved a project for providing 4G mobile services in 7,287 uncovered villages in 44 aspirational districts across 5 states.
In his Independence Day address in 2021, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi gave a call for saturation of government schemes. The Union Cabinet today approved a project for saturation of 4G mobile services in uncovered villages across the country at a total cost of Rs. 26,316 Cr.
The project will provide 4G mobile services in 24,680 uncovered villages in remote and difficult areas. The project has a provision to include 20% additional villages on account of rehabilitation, new-settlements, withdrawal of services by existing operators etc. In addition, 6,279 villages having only 2G/3G connectivity shall be upgraded to 4G.
The project will be executed by BSNL using Atmanirbhar Bharat’s 4G technology stack and will be funded through Universal Service Obligation Fund. The project cost of Rs. 26,316 Cr includes capex and 5 year opex.
BSNL is already in process of deployment of Atmanirbhar 4G technology stack, which will be deployed in this project as well.
The project is a significant step towards the vision of the Government to provide mobile connectivity in rural areas. This project will promote delivery of various e-governance services, banking services, tele-medicine, tele-education etc. through mobile broadband and generate employment in rural areas.
Ministry of Commerce & Industry
Steps to Promote Export during Pandemic
Since March 2020, during COVID-19 pandemic, regular meetings were held with the Export Promotion Councils , Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Industry bodies and Associations to discuss issues and problems faced by the exporters and ways to promote exports during the pandemic. The issues raised by them were taken up with the concerned Ministries/Departments for an early redressal.
Government has taken the following key steps to boost exports:
- The validity of Foreign Trade Policy  extended by one year i.e. upto 31-3-2021 and relaxations granted and time lines extended due to COVID-19.
- Extension of export obligation period in respect of Advance Authorizations and Export Promotion Capital Goods  authorizations under Foreign Trade Policy , extension of Letter of Permissions  / Letter of Intents  of Export Oriented Units, various relaxations to SEZ units as a measure to make them functional and to ease compliances and simplification and liberalization of procedures of trade remedial investigations.
- Interest Equalization Scheme on pre and post shipment rupee export credit has been extended by one year i.e. upto 31-3-2021.
- Line Ministries have notified various sectoral incentive packages, such as Production Linked Incentive Scheme  by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology  and PLI Scheme by Department of Pharma for Key Starting Materials / Drug Intermediates and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients .
- Common Digital Platform for Certificate of Origin has been launched to facilitate trade and increase the Free Trade Agreements utilization by exporters.
- A comprehensive “Agriculture Export Policy” is under implementation to provide an impetus to agricultural exports related to agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries and food processing sectors.
- Promoting and diversifying services exports by pursuing specific action plans for the 12 Champion Services Sectors.
- Promoting districts as export hubs by identifying products with export potential in the District, addressing bottlenecks for exporting these products, supporting local exporters/manufacturers to scale and generate employment in the District.
- Strengthening eco-system for adoption / implementation of mandatory technical standards for goods, services and skilling.
- Energising Indian missions abroad towards promoting our Trade, Tourism, Technology and Investment goals.
- Package announced to support domestic industry, including through various banking and financial sector relief measures, especially for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises , which constitute a major share in exports.
This information was given by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.
Cabinet Secretariat
Cabinet approves the Constitution of an empowered “Technology Group”
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has approved the Constitution of an empowered “Technology Group”.
Details
Cabinet has approved constitution of a 12-Member Technology Group with the Principal Scientific Adviser to Government of India as its Chair. This Group is mandated to render timely policy advice on latest technologies; mapping of technology and technology products; commercialisation of dual use technologies developed in national laboratories and government R&D organisations; developing an indigenisation road map for selected key technologies; and selection of appropriate R&D programs leading to technology development.
Major Impact
The Technology Group will :-
- render the best possible advice on technology to be developed for a technology supplier and the technology procurement strategy;
- develop in-house expertise in aspects of policy and use of emerging technologies; and
- ensure sustainability of public sector technology developed/being developed at PSUs, national labs and research organisations.
Implementation strategy and targets
The three pillars of the work of the Technology Group include:
- Policy Support;
- Procurement Support; and
- Support on Research and Development proposals.
The Technology Group intends to ensure :-
- that India has appropriate policies and strategies for effective, secure and context-sensitive exploitation of the latest technologies for economic growth and sustainable development of Indian Industry, in all sectors;
- to advise the Government on priorities and strategies for research on emerging technologies across sectors;
- to maintain an updated map of technology and technology products available, and being developed, across India;
- to develop indigenization roadmap for selected key technologies;
- to advise the Government on its technology supplier and procurement strategy;
- to encourage all Ministries and Departments as well as State Governments to develop in-house expertise in policy and use aspects of emerging technologies such as data science and artificial intelligence, and to this end develop an approach to training and capacity building
- to formulate policies for sustainability of public sector technology at PSUs/Labs while encouraging cross-sector collaborations and research alliances with Universities and Private Companies; and
- to formulate standards and common vocabulary to apply in vetting of proposals for R&D.
Background
In the technology sector, five important issues were:  silo-centric approaches to development of technology  technology standards either not developed or applied, leading to sub-optimal industrial development  dual use technologies not being optimally commercialised  R&D programs not aligned to efforts at technology development  need for mapping of technologies important for applications in society and industry. The Constitution of Technology Group is an effort at addressing the above problems.
Ministry of Steel
MOIL achieves record-breaking production and sales in July 2023
MOIL Limited, the largest producer of manganese ore in India, has recorded its best-ever performance for the month of July since its inception. The company produced 1.20 lakh tonnes of manganese ore in July 2023, registering a remarkable growth of 71% compared to the same period last year. This is the highest-ever July production achieved by MOIL in its history.
MOIL Limited has also recorded its best-ever sales of 0.94 lakh tonnes in July 2023, witnessing an impressive growth of 69% over the corresponding period last year. The sales performance reflects the strong demand for manganese ore in the domestic and international markets.
President's Secretariat
No 'Change of Guard' Ceremony Tomorrow
The Change of Guard Ceremony which takes place on every Saturday at the Forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan will not to be held tomorrow  due to inclement weather conditions.
Ministry of Defence
LT GEN JS Nain visits Trinetra Brigade and Army Sports Institute, Pune
Pune: 19 July 2021
Lt Gen JS Nain, GOC-In-C, Southern Command reviewed the operational preparedness of Trinetra Brigade. During the visit, Brigadier Rajesh Verma, Commander, Trinetra Brigade briefed the Army Commander on various operational, training and administrative initiatives undertaken by the formation to meet the emerging challenges in the Electro Magnetic domain. The Army Commander, emphasized on the changing character of Warfare and highlighted that synergized ‘Information Operations’ is a war winning strategy in Future battle Field.
He later visited the Army Sports Institute , Pune where he was briefed by Col Rakesh Yadav, Commandant ASI on the training methodology and facilities available for the same. The Army Commander expressed his confidence in future of sports in the country and extended his best wishes to the Mission Olympics team participating in the Tokyo Olympics.
MI/PM
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Special Service and Features
BIS, Kochi to conduct "MANAK MANTHAN” for Indian Standard Specification for Coconut Oil
Kochi: July 27, 2022
Bureau of Indian Standards , the National Standards Body of India, having its Branch Office at Kochi, is conducting “MANAK MANTHAN” through video conferencing on 29th July 2022 at 4.00 pm for Indian Standard Specification IS 542: 2018 for Coconut Oil. The meeting will discuss about various aspects of the standards and the issues in their implementation with all interested stakeholders in Kerala.
BIS Kochi is constantly striving to bring more coconut oil manufacturers in the state under BIS certification fold, so as to have positive impact in the overall quality of coconut oil available to the consumers. This Manak Manthan is one such initiative, wherein BIS is inviting all relevant stakeholders to get involved in the development of Indian standard for Edible Coconut Oil.
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Cabinet
Cabinet approves Proposal for Promulgation of the Muslim Women , Second Ordinance, 2019
The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval to the following proposals:
- Promulgation of an Ordinance, namely the Muslim Women  Second Ordinance, 2019, as per Appendix-III  under clause  of article 123 of the Constitution; and
- Move necessary official amendments in the Muslim Women  Bill, 2018 pending in Rajya Sabha to replace the aforesaid Ordinance with such modifications of drafting and consequential nature as may be considered necessary.
Benefits:
The proposed Ordinance will protect the rights of married Muslim women and prevent divorce by the practice of instantaneous and irrevocable ‘talaq-e-biddat’ by their husbands. It will discourage the practice of triple talaq i.e. talaq-e-biddat. Promulgation of the proposed Ordinance will provide the rights of subsistence allowance, custody of minor children to victims of triple talaq i.e. talaq-e-biddat.
Ministry of Railways
BHUBANESWAR-NEW DELHI-BHUBANESWAR RAJDHANI EXPRESS WITH TEJAS COACHES FLAGGED OFF
Hon’ble Union Minister of Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan and Hon’ble Union Minister of Railways, Communication and Electronics & Information Technology Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw flagged off Bhubaneswar-New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Rajdhani Express with Tejas Coaches from Bhubaneswar Railway Station, today.
Gracing the Occasion, Union Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan said that, running Rajdhani Express with Tejas Coaches will provide upgraded amenities for the new era of train travel experience with enhanced comfort.
Speaking in the occasion, Railway Minister Shri Vaishnaw also said that, Union government has provided budgetary allocation for railways of Rupees 10,012 Crores to Odisha, this year as against a mere 800-900 Crores before 2014. On ongoing works, Shri Vaishnaw said that, the developmental works of 25 Railway Stations in Odisha has been started and people can see the example of Redevelopment of Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Puri Railway Station, where, the work is in full swing and the progress of construction work is praise worthy.
Earlier, Shri Vaishnaw inspected Bhubaneswar Railway Station and reviewed the construction work for redevelopment of Bhubaneswar Railway Station.
Shri Pradhan & Shri Vaishnaw also visited the exhibition on Partition Horror Remembrance Day displayed at Bhubaneswar Railway Station.
Later, Shri Vaishnaw inaugurated the Train Management Cell  at Khurda Road DRM’s Office. The real time train position will be known from Khurda Road Train Management Cell which were earlier used to get only from stations by arrival departure reports of the train.
Apart from this, failures if any, will also be known on a timely basis without waiting for report from Station Manager. Passenger Announcement System and Coach Indications Display have also been integrated with this. Coordination between stations intermediate between two different control boards will be easier as earlier we had to speak to them separately for forecast regarding incoming trains. All Train Running information will be displayed on screen.
Shri Ananta Narayan Jena, MLA, Bhubaneswar Central also graced the occasion at Bhubaneswar Railway Station. East Coast Railway General Manager, Shri Manoj Sharma welcomed the Guests. Divisional Railway Manager Shri H. S. Bajwa was also present.
The first Tejas Rake to be introduced from Saturday via Sambalpur route. Other Rakes will be introduced very soon one after the other with a gap of few days in between.
RoM
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